beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeep

This week has been a shocker, but not in a man-in-a-dirty-raincoat-with-ankle-to-knee-length-trousers-and-dodgy-intentions kind of way. More that it's been slightly tedious. So much so that I managed to watch the entire last season of ER in two nights.

There have been two highlights ("highlights" being moments where something actually happened). Those highlights do not include the feeling of my arteries hardening due a chocolate-and-deep-fried-foods-only diet, but it was this feeling that inspired one of those moments on Wednesday. I have vague intentions of trying to climb Mount Fuji as part of a group in a few weeks time, (I had these same vague intentions last year but backed out to go shopping instead. Oops...) so I felt I should kick-start the exercise regime in an effort to get fit. Unfortunately the effort kick-stopped any intentions I had of continuing a life in the outdoors. I decided to climb one of the local mountains- the same one I climbed in April, thinking it would be good practice, and remembering it wasn't too difficult. I had forgotten that plants grow a lot in summer. So I struggled on up the mountain shouting like a tourette's sufferer as 5billion insects (the like of which I had never seen before) did their very best to dive bomb my face, especially my eyes (and, as I flung my arms in the air and tried not to topple over, I wondered, are insects as mesmerised by blue eyes as elementary school children?). Fortunately I saw no-one on the way, but given my continual swearing and cursing they were probably throwing themselves off the mountain in fear. Eventually I reached the top, having to fight my way through 2 foot high chrysanthemums and avoiding the by now undulating underfoot life (all sorts of I-don't-know-what was moving in the plants). So I quickly turned around. Only to realise that I couldn't see the path back down for overgrown plants. Shit! (Sorry Mother.) But down I made it and carried on walking only to be attacked by a butterfly whose mother was obviously so randy she'd mated with a bat. That's it for wildlife, I'm bloody well over it.

The other highlight was karaoke. It's been 3 weeks since I last went and after Nao chan called me to see if we should dine together we picked up Tara, ate revolving sushi (yes! It was spinning on the plates! Yes! I'm talking rubbish again) and I suggested sheepishly a night of karaoke. So we headed to the Riverside hotel where we were greeted with a chorus of "hisashiburi!" (long time, no see) and they all asked about LeeJay. And they took us to a room with BRAND NEW MACHINES and declared that they were FULL OF ENGLISH SONGS! The new machines had loads more songs, we had two TV screens in the room and we have a whole new repertoire. We all sang a couple of Japanese songs and a couple of English songs, and I threatened Tara with Mariah Carey (she doesn't yet realise this is actually a promise). But it was strange not singing Wilson Phillips or Papa Don't Preach, and sadly the new book doesn't have Band Of Gold (I sense a return to room 11 in the near future). Poor Nao chan was quite upset on the way home. She was very pleased to meet Tara and really likes her, but she misses LeeJay as do I. But thank God Tara likes karaoke as well. I'd look right stupid going on my own every week crying into my plum chu-hai.